Customer Reviews

Martin Scorsese Presents Red, White and Blues

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The tracks listed above are not all included on the CD. Even the links to audio clips play unexpected songs. Specificially, tracks 3,5,10,11,13,17 and 18 are not on this CD, That's Van Morrison, Otis Redding, John Lennon, etc. The CD Box set also is missing these tracks.

The CD you get when you order this disc from Amazon does not contain the advertised tracks. I now have TWO of them, thanks to the incompetent Amazon employee who did not carefully read my complaint. Neither disc contains the Van Morrison tracks nor the Lulu track, "Cry Me a River." Other discrepencies too numerous to list also exist. This is false advertising in my book and I won't pay for either disc.

I watched the special and thought it was great but I think the CD complilation is even better since you get to hear the complete songs not just excerpts. For anyone who loved the British Blues scene of the 60's this is one CD you must add to your collection. The combination of Jeff Beck & Tom Jones on 4 tracks is worth the price of the CD alone. These two guys are just wonderful together. Maybe Van Morrison's contribution (though great)is missing because Van wouldn't give his permission to included it?

I finally managed some time to watch one of the Scorcese series on the Blues, namely Red White & Blues, to compare the content with the soundtrack. The film (and soundtrack) was titled not due to the colours of the English flag but because of a group called the Red White and Blues Band, led by Bryan Ferry, who made quite an impression on the film's director Mike Figgis.

Jazz's influence on blues in England is shown with a live performance of Louis Armstrong's "Back O' Town Blues" with some commentary from Armstrong. That's Jack Teagarden on trombone. Miles Davis's "Generique" is also included here to that effect, although it didn't feature in the movie.

Big Bill Broonzy was mentioned but none of his music played, and "Black, Brown, and White Blues" is on the racism in job hiring, wage rate, and being denied service: "if you's white, you's all right/if you was brown, stick around/but as you black, oh brother, get back get back." It's a nice piece of country blues that the Brits really got into. Ditto for guitar/vocalist Sister Rosetta Tharpe who shares vocal duties with Marie Knight in the gospel blues of "Up Above My Head I Hear Music In The Air."

The influence that blues had on skiffle, a garage-type DIY, one-chord guitar and washboard folk craze that hit England in the late 50's, is exemplified by Lonnie Donegan's cover of Lead Belly's "Rock Island Line" including the spoken intro explaining what the line is.

Of the songs issued for the first time, three artists stand out: Tom Jones, Jeff Beck, and Lulu. Not all the songs came out in the film, including the one I was hoping would be featured. It's Lulu's cover of Julie London's 50's ballad "Cry Me A River" with accompaniment by Beck, done with the same quiet melancholy piano arrangements and a nice sax solo by Peter King. After hearing her soulful rendition of "Drown In My Own Tears," it was clear that her voice has matured and become better with age. Tom Jones and Jeff Beck get together on two songs, including "Goin' Down Slow", a cover of Ray Charles' "Hard Times" and Jones' let's it rip with that robust voice of his. A great example of Beck's guitar virtuosity is shown on "Rollin' & Tumblin'" and Tom Jones does Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy."

Trumpeter Humphrey Lyttleton's instrumental "Bad Penny Blues" has the bouncing rolling Fats Domino-type piano courtesy of Johnny Parker that the Beatles later appropriated for "Lady Madonna." So that's where they got it!

Chris Farlowe, a.k.a. Little Joe Cook, covered T-Bone Walker's "Stormy Monday Blues Parts 1 & 2," which was a hit for him, and even some black people mistook him for someone black, so true and feeling was his rendition. This was in the movie.

The impact it had on better known artists/groups such as Steve Winwood, Mick Fleetwood, Eric Clapton, and John Mayall is represented by the Spencer Davis Group's "Hey Darlin'", Fleetwood Mac's rollicking cover of Elmore James' "Shake Your Money Maker" originally on their first album, the group that Peter Green and John McVie were first with, the Bluesbreakers on "Have You Heard", and Cream's live version of Robert Johnson's "Crossroads" orig. on Wheels On Fire.

The soundtrack has some music that didn't even come out in the movie in vice-versa, but its selections properly emphasize the British role in spreading white electric blues, which in turn gave the attention to the original artists that they so richly deserved.

I would like to second the comments of another reviewer! The CD you get when you order this disc from Amazon does not contain the advertised tracks. I also now have TWO of them, thanks to the incompetent Amazon employee who did not carefully read my complaint either. Neither disc contains the Van Morrison tracks nor the Lulu track, "Cry Me a River." Other discrepencies too numerous to list also exist. This is false advertising in my book and I hope won't end up paying for either disc. I think this is a good example of how Amazon feedback is worthless. There is NO communication, only boilerplate responses that are irrelevant!

To those who are disappointed about some songs not being the same as what was on the show, I too was saddened to find out that Van's opening song in this series named Rambler's Blues is not available on the cd. I belive that the session shown was done by Mike Frigas? Ane the session was done at the Abbey Road Studios which is called the Abbey Road Sessions. It may be released later but niot as part of Martin's special. Luckily I held off ordering any of the cd's
I will attempt to contact Mike to see if that session will be released, only part was shown during the red, white and blues episode, there was more information in the interview after the initial show, I taped it and watched it, so I'll be waiting to see if that session is releaded.

I dug out my old DVD's of this series and watched them again. I decided I needed to get the CD to this one.
My CD had all 20 tracks listed above. Both songs by Lulu were there. In reading the booklet with the CD it seems like the Van Morrison take was kind of spur of the moment. They didn't think he was going to show up and he walked in and did it. That might be why that song from the film is not on the CD. Too bad as it is a great performance by him. I love a lot of the songs here but my favorites are Little Joe Cook and Lulu. Wow what great voices!
I recommend the CD to anyone who wants some great blues. True not all of the tracks from the film made it on there but its still a great CD.

I first saw this episode when a friend lent me his DVD. I had missed the series when it originally aired in 2003. This episode was a delight to my eyes, and ears. Tom Jones, and Jeff Beck's contributions are worth the price of this CD. Jeff Beck's guitar cries with feeling, and we are reminded why he is Jeff Beck. It's too bad that another reviewer of this CD is too tone deaf to realise this. Lulu's contributions are wonderful as well. The only piece that I feel that doesn't really fit here is the one by Miles Davis. Don't get me wrong, it's a brilliant piece, and the soundtrack it comes from is awsome, but here, I feel that including Van Morrison's intro piece would have mad more sense. If you love blues you'll eat this CD up!

I bought this album after hearing a few cuts on the online radio station Pandora. I was mainly interested in the collaborations of Jeff Beck with Tom Jones (yes, that Tom Jones) and Lulu. These are first rate cuts. The rest of the package is uneven at best.

There are some great performances here from American artists that impacted the blues scene of the UK as well as the UK's Clapton and Mayall, but the real thrill here is brand new material from Jeff Beck and his performances with Tom Jones and Lulu. Jones and Lulu both give inspired performances of some contemporary American blues classics and JB is his usual twisted self wringing every bit of blues out of every note he plays. Someone should convince Jeff and Tom to tour together because this tease is barely enough. I've got to buy the DVD.